“These crops could be the next innovative gourmet export food product for New Zealand,” Guerin said.
“Elsewhere in the world they are highly regarded for their potential health benefits and even support a dedicated truffle-tourism industry.”
In NZ truffles retail for about $3000/kg but Guerin said: “You don’t need 1kg to enjoy them. The flavour is powerful and sensational. A few grams per person is enough for some of the best recipes.”
While Perigord black truffles had been grown commercially in Europe since the early 1800s, it was not until the 1970s that their cultivation methods were improved by scientists.
Similarly the cultivation of most other edible mycorrhizal mushrooms was still very much in its infancy.
The pair’s research into saffron milk cap mushrooms provided another commercial opportunity.
“We harvested 85kg of saffron milk cap in the 2014 season from January to May.
“The high yield was in part because of irrigation on some sites and very favourable conditions with warm temperatures and regular rainfall,” Guerin said.
Both crops were the fruits of perennial fungi that lived in symbiosis with trees.
The fungi colonised roots and transformed them into mycorrhizae, real root organs resulting from the merger between plant and fungal tissues.
The fungus supplied the tree with water and nutrients while the tree provided the fungus with soluble carbohydrates from photosynthesis.
The research, published in the international journal Mycorrhiza, also showed a symbiotic relationship between host pines, onset of fruiting, and mushroom yields, potentially improving the value of pine plantations by providing a secondary income and competitive control of the invasive and poisonous fly agaric.
Yet, while research to date had yielded promising results, more research was needed for both crops to further develop the young edible mycorrhizal mushroom industry in NZ.
In particular, it was important to understand the factors that affected yields and the postharvest storage, packaging and shelf-life of the gourmet delicacies, Guerin said.
